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An al yst Repor t
(Brightspace, 2015)
Cather ine
Steeves
TABLE OF CONTENTS 01 The Business Opportunity 02 The Customers 03 The Major Solution Vendors 04 Brightspace 05 What's New? 06 What's New with the Competition? 07 Brightspace's Response 08 Why Brightspace? 09 Brightspace Success Factors 10 References
THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
THE MARKET FOR LEARNING
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Although there are
many predictions for The Asian market is
the end of Learning growing the fastest
Management with a rate of 17.3%.
Systems, the market However, North
continues to grow. America, even with
There is an increasing the slowest annual
market demand in all growth rate at 4.4% is
areas of the world for still the most
Learning profitable market
Management (Docebo, 2014)
Systems (Docebo, (Research and Markets, 2015)
2014)
01
$ $ $
2,550,000,000
World, 2013
1,495,000,000
North America,
2013
446,000,000
Asia, 2013
THE CUSTOMERS
Online Learning and Learning Management Systems:
Online learning covers a wide array of technologies and learning management systems being one such technology.
Many corporations who realize the value of continuous
education for their employees are investing in e-learning and
learning management systems instead of traditional corporate
training programs; however, the academic market continues to
be the largest customer for these systems (Research and
Markets, 2015) with the K-12 market growing faster than higher
education institutions (Docebo, 2014). Surveys suggest that a
large majority of people believe that a learning management
system has a positive impact for an e-learning course, leading
many analysts to believe that the popularity will continue to
expand in the coming years with estimates of an annual growth
of 25.2% through 2017-2018 (Pappas, 2015).
(Docebo, 2014)
A Learning Management System (LMS)
A learning management system includes many aspects of teaching and instructional design in one linked system. The systems are
designed to deliver and teach content, track and monitor student progress, assess student learning, and provide a place for learning
interactions to occur. The type and variety of features vary according to the type of system and the package or system purchased
(Edutech wiki, 2015). Depending on your institutional needs there are a variety of open source systems as well as a number of paid
platforms. Learning Management Systems are used by both public and private institutions of a variety of sizes.
03 02
THE MAJOR SOLUTION VENDORS
There are many LMS companies and, as well, some institutions
create their own customized versions; however, there are five
main Learning Management Companies. The largest by far is
Blackboard. Although losing market share from 80-90% in 2006
to about 44% in 2015 (EdTech, 2015), it remains the leading
company in this market by a comfortable amount, with reports
of the highest customer satisfaction (G2 Crowd, 2015).
(Seaman, 2015)
The only company in the main five seeing growth is
Instructure?s Canvas with a market share of 10%
(Seaman, 2015) and a mission to erode Blackboard?s grip
on the market (Locke, 2015). Most people remain with
their original company, with only 31% of clients switching
vendors, the majority saying they switched to receive
additional features and made their original choice based
on the functions of the LMS and then price (Pappas,
2015).
Despite the many predictions of the end of the learning
management system, the market is still growing in all
areas of the world and the companies providing these
systems are evolving and adapting their services to fit
the changing marketplace of educational technology
(Rayson, 2015).
(Datanyze, 2015, https://www.datanyze.com/market-share/education-management/) 03
BRIGHTSPACE
Brightspace is a learning management system by D2L (formerly Desire2Learn). The CEO of
Brightspace is John Baker, who founded the company in 1999 while attending the University of
Waterloo (Brightspace, 2015A). The company is based in Kitchener, Ontario, although they have
expanded across Canada, and into the United States, as well as Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
Brightspace has more than 1,100 clients and 15 million users (Brightspace, 2015A), which in 2015
equates to between 7% (Datanyze, 2015) and 9% (Seaman, 2015) of the market share of learning
management systems. In 2013 the company acquired three other companies to help improve
their services and features (Alderson, 2015), culminating with the Brightspace rebranding in 2014
(Wan, 2014) and are continuing to develop into the present time.
(Brightspace, 2015)
Brightspace CEO
John Baker
While Brightspace is not leading the market in LMS they are maintaining
sufficient market share to be considered one of the ?big five?. In many
ways their smaller size and flexibility can be seen as an advantage as
they evolve and peruse trends in online learning. More than the other
companies, Brightspace is committed to innovation, closely following the
trends in online learning and creating features that match such changes.
For example, the launch of Brightspace LeaP includes features for
adaptive learning and data analytics, two of the identified future paths for
(Brightspace, 2015) technological education.
03 04
WHAT?S NEW?
Emerging Trends
There are many trends in e-learning. Most applicable to LMS
companies are gamification, personalized learning, mobile
learning, video learning, and application programming interfaces
(API) which enable flow between various platforms (Spencer,
2015). Currently, most LMS platforms offer very similar service,
and as the new trends emerge each company is determining new
directions to separate themselves from the rest of the market
(Straumsheim, 2014).
One major change is creating a network of services than a
management system, this allows the easier incorporation of a
variety of technology, such as the creation and viewing of video
(Straumsheim, 2014). This also allows for learning management
companies to contract out the creation of features to other
educational technology companies (Straumsheim, 2014). This is
often linked to a movement towards cloud based and software as a
system (SaaS) solutions allowing client?s system to be connected
to different LMS sections and to be easily upgraded. (Pappas,
2015). Another important trend is the increasing importance of
data analytics, which both instructors and companies are realizing
can play an important role in providing key information to teachers
about their students (Flemming, 2015).
(Mystakidis, 2009)
05
WHAT'S NEW WITH THE COMPETITION?
Blackboard is also investing in mobile functions
as well as social ones, and has integrated their
various components (Learn, Collaborate, and
Mobile) into one platform called Ultra
(Flemming, 2015).
(Blackboard, 2007)
Moodle?s 2.9 release is mostly updating
existing features (Thibault, 2015B) but earlier
this year they released Moodle Mobile 2 to
take advantage of the trend towards mobile
learning (Thibault, 2015B).
(Moodle 2015)
Canvas has released a platform specifically for the
corporate market called Bridge and they are using
their cloud based system to provide continuous
updates to clients. Canvas is also aggressively
marketing their product in their mission to sway
clients away from Blackboard (Locke, 2015).
(Instructure, 2015)
Sakai is also working on general improvements
to their systems with increased functionality of
features and improved security (Mikkola,
2015).
Overall data analytics are becoming increasingly an important component of (Sakai, 2014)
learning management systems as learning management companies and their
clients are realizing the value of this information (Flemming, 2015).
06
BRIGHTSPACE'S RESPONSE
(Brightspace, 2015) (Brightspace, 2015)
Brightspace has launched LeaP which is a combination of adaptive learning and analytics. The adaptive learning allows for each
student to have a personalized journey. Instructors can set the parameters for the journey and at each performance assessment a
student?s progress is tested and the next section of their journey is based on their score sending students to various content as needed
(Alderson, 2015). Instructors can further personalize learning by generating messages to students with congratulations or warnings as
needed (Barmark, 2015). LeaP also has an improved analytics platform, transferring data hourly instead of daily and has also created
an algorithm called Degree Compass which can predict the letter grade to be obtained for each student. This program works by
identifying the trends in student behaviour, and can also warn the instructor when intervention is needed. To continue improvements in
the area of analytics, Brightspace is working with IBM for powering the required analytic engines (Alderson, 2015). Brightspace is also
working to incorporate game based learning elements where instructors can design games with avatars and trophies, with some
institutions reporting a completion rate improvement of 25% (Barmark, 2015). A few other features include the ability to either buy or
rent textbooks through the binder application (Straumsheim, 2014) and the ability to record video directly into the platform without the
involvement of a third party (Brightspace, 2015B). Brightspace is one of the most innovative platforms (Walsh, 2015) and uses their
customer relationships to help inspire new products and services as well as gather feedback about existing ideas (Barmark, 2015).
(Brightspace, 2015)
07
WHY BRIGHTSPACE?
(Schmidt, 2011)
Since its creation D2L?s focus has been on their passion for learning
and innovation and Brightspace continues with this focus. Brightspace
Additionally, they have added gamification to their platform,
continuously tries new ideas and incorporates their clients into the
which is already getting rave reviews for retention rates
innovation process. They talk to educators about their needs and
(Barmark, 2015). This is all in addition to the changes such as
wants in terms of a learning management system to ensure their
cloud based LMS, application integration, online textbooks and
platform stands out from competitors. Additionally, because
materials, and a move to mobile interfaces. Finally,
Brightspace is a continuous delivery system, updates and changes can
Brightspace is working on making their platform and
be made immediately and customers are encouraged to provide
applications easier for students with learning disabilities by
feedback on such changes right away (Barmark, 2015). They are
making it compatible with OpenDyslexic, a font for students
probably the most innovative of the major learning management
and teachers with dyslexia (Kelly, 2015). In 2013 they won the
companies having made innovation a company priority (Gregory,
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award for their accessibility (Echevarria,
2014). A patent infringement suit by Blackboard in 2006 was
2013).
successfully defended and defeated. D2L has successfully raised
investments of $80 million in 2012 and $85 million in 2014 (Barmark,
2015).
08BRIGHTSPACE SUCCESS FACTORS
All of this innovation can be good or bad for teachers
and designers using the Brightspace learning
management system. On the one hand it is a lot
more work to keep up with the ever evolving feature,
and teachers must author more content themselves;
however, the multiple additional features allow for
endless customization and provides teachers the
flexibility to use their pedagogical knowledge to
create personalized courses using their own
innovation. For people looking to push beyond
traditional instruction and technology, Brightspace is
the learning management system to provide the
necessary tools.
Brightspace is not the biggest or most aggressive (Ovum, 2015)
learning management company, but they are the
most innovative. In a technological climate where
theories and educational needs rapidly change, a
company that is ahead of the trends will continue to
be viable. Brightspace?s passion for innovation sets Brightspace is the company demonstrating the
them apart as a company interested in changing the most commitment to changing existing products
field of not just educational technology but education
itself. and developing new ones; thus, no matter how
They will be able to change with the times and learning management systems evolve in the
perhaps even lead the market with their ideas.
Learning Management Systems are not disappearing,
future, Brightspace will be able to evolve along
they are changing and evolving to include more with them. It is a company committed to applying
flexibility and behind the scenes features for
instruction, such as data analytics. innovation to education.
09REFERENCES
Alderson, J. (2015, July). Building brighter spaces through acquisition and integration. Eduventures. www.eduventures.com
Barmark, S. (2015, March 19). How the ?Netflix of education? is using big data in the classroom. Canadian Business. Retrieved from www.canadianbusiness.com
Brightspace. (2015A). About D2L. Retrieved from www.d2l.com
Brightspace. (2015B). Compare e-learning solutions. Retrieved from www.brightspace.com
Docebo. (2014). E-learning market trends & forecast 2014-2016 Report. Retrieved from www.docebo.com
Echevarria, C. (2013, July 14). National Federation of the Blind awards $50,000. Cheryl Echevarria advocate for the blind blog. Retrieved from:
www.cherylnfbadvocate.wordpress.com
EdTech. (2015, March 8). LMS data ? Spring 2015 updates. Edutechnica. Retrieved from http:/ / edutechnica.com/
Edutech Wiki. (2015). Learning management system. Retrieved from http:/ / edutechwiki.unige.ch/ en/ Learning_management_system
Flemming, B. (2015, July 31). The real vision behind the new Blackboard. Eduventures.com. Retrieved from www.educentures.com
G2 Crowd. (2015). Summer 2015 rankings of the best learning management systems based on user reviews. Retrieved from
https:/ / www.g2crowd.com/ press-release/ best-lms-summer-2015/
Gregory, C. (2014, May 22). Comparing Canvas, Blackboard, and Desire2Learn LMS for a Moodle replacement. Disruptivity. Retrieved from
www.disruptivity.wordpress.com
Kelly, R. (2015, April 28). D2L revamps Brightspace learning platform. The Journal. Retrieved from www.thejournal.com
Locke, C. (2015, Feburary 24). Instructure plots path to IPO, corporate customers after $40M series E. edSurge. Retrieved from www.edsurge.com
Mikkola, G. (2015, July 28). Learn about what?s new in Sakai 10. Wake Forest University: Information Systems Knowledge. Retrieved from
https:/ / sites.google.com/ a/ wfu.edu/ is-knowledge-base/ home/ news-alerts/ 7282015-learnaboutwhatsnewinsakai10
Pappas, C. (2015, May 26). Top LMS statistics and facts for 2015. eLearning Industry. Retrieved from www.elearningindustry.com
Rayson, S. (2015, March 10). APIs, adaptive learning & the invisible LMS: Andy Wooler interview. Totara. Retrieved from www.totaralms.com
Research and Markets. (2015). Learning management systems (LMS) market by products, applications, deployment type, user type and region ? Global forcast to 2020).
Retrieved from www.researchmarkets.com
Seaman, P. (2015, April 6). What?s going on in the world of LMSs? Portland Community College. Retrieved from
www.pcc.edu/ about/ distance/ 2015/ 04/ whats-going-on-in-the-world-of-lmss
Spencer, R. (2015, June 3). The top eLearning trends for 2015. eLearning Industry. Retrieved from www.elearningindustry.com
Straumsheim, C. (2014, July 18). The post-LMS LMS. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from www.insidehighered.com
Thibault, J. (2015A, March 31). Mobile Moodle 2 is coming: updated look and feel of the application transition to ionic framework. Moodle News. Retrieved from
www.moodlenews.com
12Thibault, J. (2015B, April 8). What?s coming in Moodle 2.9 that you should be aware of? Moodle News. Retrieved from www.moodlenews.com
Walsh, K. (2015, April 29). D2L introduces next generation adaptive learning technology in Brightspace LMS. Emerging Ed Tech. Retrieved from
www.emergingedtech.com
Wan, T. (2014, July 14). The sum of Desire2Learn?s Acquisitions: Brightspace. edSurge. Retrieved from www.edsurge.com
IMAGE REFERENCES
Blackboard (Owner). (2007). Blackboard Logo [Logo]. Retrieved from http:/ / library.blackboard.com/ ref/ ac6a8266-81c9-423f-a187-6cf4f7a505b7/
Brightspace. (Owner). (2015). Brightspace by D2L [Logo]. . Retrieved from www.brightspace.com
Datanyze. (Creator). (2015). Education management market share in the Alexa top 1M [Graph]. Retrieved from
https:/ / www.datanyze.com/ market-share/ education-management/
Docebo. (2014). E-learning market trends & forecast 2014-2016 Report. Retrieved from www.docebo.com
Instructure. (Owner). (2015). Instructure [Logo]. . Retrieved from www.instructure.com
Moodle. (Owner). (2015). Moodle [Logo]. . Retrieved from https:/ / moodle.org/
Ovum. (Owner). (2015). Ovum decision matrix: Online learning platforms, higher education leaders ? next gen online teaching and learning [Graph]. Retrieved from
http:/ / finance.yahoo.com/ news/ d2ls-brightspace-ranked-1-lms-160428130.html
Research and Markets. (Owner). (2015). Learning management systems (LMS) market by products, applications, deployment type, user type and region ? Global
forecast to 2020) [Graph]. Retrieved from www.researchmarkets.com
Sakai. (Owner). (2014). Sakai [Logo]. . Retrieved from www.sakaiproject.org
Schmidt, M. (Creator). (2011). Innovation Chalkboard [Image]. Retrieved from https:/ / www.flickr.com/ photos/ hamptonroadspartnership/ 5351622529
Seaman, P. (Owner). (2015, April 6). What?s going on in the world of LMSs? [Graph]. Retrieved from
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Jobling, C. (Creator). (2010). The networked student (Drexler, 2010) [Computer Image]. Retrieved from https:/ / www.flickr.com/ photos/ cpjobling/ 5157736335
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